United Kingdom

Centrica hires O&M staff in UK despite project cuts

UK: British utility Centrica is expanding its offshore wind operations and maintenance team in Grimsby in the north-east England, despite scrapping projects in the area.

The Lynn and Inner Dowsing project is operated from the base

The company is to add 18 people to its already 200-strong team that operates out of its £3 million (EUR 3.6 million) base at the Port of Grimsby.

This move may come as a surprise to industry observers, as Centrica has recently scrapped plans to build the 540MW Docking Shoal project off the north-east coast and has sold its 580MW Race Bank project, also near Grimsby, to Dong Energy.

It does, however, operate the 270MW Lincs project and the 194MW Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farm, both of which are fully commissioned, from its Grimsby base.

In 2010, Centrica was the first company to build an offshore base in Grimsby, but E.on, Dong and RES have since moved into the area as they work on offshore projects off the north-east coast.